School districts don't have to hire retirees

Tuesday

Jun 29, 2010 at 12:01 AMJun 29, 2010 at 8:13 AM

Critics saying something doesn't make it true ("Pension rules allow educators to double dip," Akron Beacon Journal article, June 20 Dispatch). As a chartered financial consultant for 28 years, I have great admiration for the actuarial soundness of the State Teachers Retirement System.

Critics saying something doesn't make it true (“Pension rules allow educators to double dip,” Akron Beacon Journal article, June 20 Dispatch). As a chartered financial consultant for 28 years, I have great admiration for the actuarial soundness of the State Teachers Retirement System.

Younger, less-experienced workers might retire on a more modest monthly pension, or they can choose to collect more per month by waiting until they are older and more experienced. “Double dipping” certainly does not “almost instantly” increase educators' earnings by as much as 80 percent.

Thirty years of faithful service, during which 10 percent of each and every paycheck was deducted and placed in a pension plan, is certainly not “almost instant.” If any retiree is willing to go back to work, he can collect a paycheck. Nothing sinister there.

Keep in mind that potential employers — local school districts — can hire younger, less-experienced educators for less money than they can a seasoned veteran. There is no mandate that a school district must rehire a retiring educator.